Category Archives: Immortality

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Golden State Is One Win Away From Immortality, And The Cavs Can't Do Anything About It UPROXX Cleveland did everything right for 44 minutes and 52 seconds. The team's gameplan was working to perfection. LeBron James was doing all the stuff that makes you go I am glad I am alive to watch him play basketball. Kyrie Irving was throwing up ... NBA: Warriors on the cusp of immortalityThe Straits Times Refusing To Second-Guess Themselves, LeBron and the Cavs Now Just Trying To Avoid Elimination and HumiliationComplex The Golden State Warriors on the verge of historyBlue Man Hoop GQ Magazine -SB Nation -CBSSports.com -SB Nation all 9,408 news articles »

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Golden State Is One Win Away From Immortality, And The Cavs Can't Do Anything About It - UPROXX

WASHINGTON -- As changing technologies and preferences make government-funded broadcasting increasingly preposterous, such broadcasting actually becomes useful by illustrating two dismal facts. One is the immortality of entitlements that especially benefit those among society's articulate upper reaches who feel entitled. The other fact is how impervious government programs are to evidence incompatible with their premises.

Fifty years and about 500 channels ago, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was created to nudge Lyndon Johnson's Great Society -- it aimed to make America great for the first time -- the final inches toward perfection. Today, the CPB, which has received about $12 billion over the years, disperses the government's 15 percent of public television's budget and 10 percent of public radio's. Originally, public television increased many viewers' choices by 33 percent -- from three (CBS, NBC, ABC) to four.

Twenty-five years ago, Sen. Al Gore, defending another appropriation increase for the CPB, asked what he considered a dispositive question: "How many senators here have children who have watched 'Sesame Street' and 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'? ... This is one thing that works in this country." So, senators, mostly affluent, should compel taxpayers, mostly much less affluent, to subsidize the senators' children's viewing because it "works," as measured by means that Gore neglected to reveal.

Eighteen years ago, some public broadcasting officials, who understood the importance of being earnest -- and imaginative -- testified to Congress that public television's educational effects on the workforce give the economy a $12 billion boost. Fifteen years ago, however, the then-president of public television said, "We are dangerously close in our overall prime-time numbers to falling below the relevance quotient." Relevance? To what?

Today, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, thinks we can risk terminating the CPB. This would reduce viewers' approximately 500 choices to approximately 499. Listeners to public radio might have to make do with America's 4,666 AM and 6,754 FM commercial stations, 437 satellite radio channels, perhaps 70,000 podcasts, and other internet and streaming services.

America, which is entertaining itself to inanition, has never experienced a scarcity of entertainment. Or a need for government-subsidized journalism that reports on the government. Before newspaper editorial writers inveigh against Mulvaney and in support of government subsidies for television and radio, they should answer this question: Should there be a CPN -- a Corporation for Public Newspapers?

The CPB was created "to encourage public telecommunications services which will be responsive to the interests of people." Of course: People's interests, not people's desires. The market efficiently responds to the latter. Public broadcasting began as a response to what progressives nowadays call "market failure." This usually means the market's failure to supply what the public has not demanded but surely would demand if it understood its real "interest."

One reason many Americans are becoming "cord cutters," abandoning cable and satellite television, is that they want an a la carte world. One reason ESPN has lost 12 million subscribers in six years is that it is an expensive component of cable and satellite packages and many of those paying for the packages rarely watch ESPN.

Compelling taxpayers to finance government-subsidized broadcasting is discordant with today's a la carte impulse and raises a question: If it has a loyal constituency, those viewers and listeners, who are disproportionately financially upscale, can afford voluntary contributions to replace the government money. And advertisers would pay handsomely to address this constituency.

Often the last, and sometimes the first, recourse of constituencies whose subsidies are in jeopardy is: "It's for the children." Big Bird, however, is more a corporate conglomerate than an endangered species. If "Sesame Street" programming were put up for auction, the danger would be of getting trampled by the stampede of potential bidders.

The argument for government-subsidized broadcasting is perversely circular: If the public were enlightened, there would be no need for government subsidies. But, by definition, an enlightened public would understand the inherent merits of subsidies by which the government picks more deserving winners than the market does.

However, since government-subsidized broadcasting exists, any argument for it would be superfluous, given what governmental inertia usually accomplishes for government enterprises. Long ago -- in January -- there was bold Republican talk about Congress restoring "regular order": There would be 12 appropriations bills and they would be enacted before the 2018 fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Instead, there probably will be another "swallow this or shutter the government" omnibus bill in which almost everything survives by sparing almost everyone the torture of choices. This is, of course, a choice.

George F. Will is a columnist for The Washington Post.

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Public broadcasting: superfluous yet seemingly immortal - Helena Independent Record

On Sunday, millions of Iranians marked the 28th death anniversary of Ayatollah Rohullah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. Doubtlessly, he was one of the most consequential figures in the 1970s and 1980s.

While the Ayatollah is no longer among us, the question arises as to how he managed to reach such a reputation. To understand that, one has to bear in mind the following:

1. For many political and religious analysts, Ayatollah Khomeini was internationally acclaimed simply because of his genuine faith in God as well as courage to stand up to bullying superpowers.

2. The Ayatollah had deep belief in the peoples prowess and will to bring about changes, and asserted that a nation who is motivated enough and awakened can revolutionize the status quo.

3. Islamic thinkers argue that the Ayatollahs panacea for human beings and societies to change was a mash-up of heavenly and earthly forces. It is only through the miraculous mixing of the internal and external sources that a society can be energized so much so that it moves ahead in pursuit of change.

4. A distinction of the Ayatollah was his emphasis on justice. The late messiah saw it impossible for a given society to reach transcendence unless rulers and grassroots coexist in balance, a concept to which many rulers of the contemporary Middle East were alien.

5. Ayatollah Khomeinis thorough, deep-rooted perception of religious cause as the engine of political dynamism ignited a series of developments in the 1970s, which were for so long unseen due to sheer disregard for religion in the global community.

6. An unparalleled trait of the Ayatollah was his soul-searching spirit and high regard for ethics, turning him into a reconciliatory sociopolitical leader, a quality many of his followers chose to die for.

7. In the international arena, the Ayatollah was an adamant hero to challenge the global arrogance which favored submission and was against awakening the oppressed. To put it differently, he believed that a chain of powers, including capitalist elements and multinational cartels, sought to rule the world. And hence, fighting them was the only way to unshackle human beings.

8. Many are of the belief that Ayatollah Khomeinis Neither-East-nor-West agenda was in a sense rejection of bifurcating the world into Western and Eastern blocs. In fact, the enlightened Imam conceived of the West-East dichotomy as one of historical determinism, of which the human society needed to get rid. A new system on the basis of public will had to replace the historical determinism and this was not possible unless nations and their elites were awakened.

9. Ayatollah Khomeinis look at power and governance revolved around winning hearts and minds of human beings rather than their bodies as he believed that governments mission was to penetrate in the souls of human beings rather than imposing themselves upon societies through coercion and guns.

To come up with a conclusion, these days the Iranian nation is commemorating a leader who was among and for the people and who did his best to be close to all walks of the society. His art was to rectify the society on the basis of sublime Islamic teachings.

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The Ayatollah and his immortality - Tehran Times

AI experts: Prepare for a sad immortality Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists AI experts: Prepare for a sad immortality. By Lucien Crowder. For a June special issue on The Benefits of Building an Artificial Brain, the good folks at IEEE Spectrum decided to ask a range of technologists and visionaries a few questions, including:.

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AI experts: Prepare for a sad immortality - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

As changing technologies and preferences make government-funded broadcasting increasingly preposterous, such broadcasting actually becomes useful by illustrating two dismal facts. One is the immortality of entitlements that especially benefit those among societys articulate upper reaches who feel entitled. The other fact is how impervious government programs are to evidence incompatible with their premises.

Fifty years and about 500 channels ago, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was created to nudge Lyndon Johnsons Great Society it aimed to make America great for the first time the final inches toward perfection. Today, the CPB, which has received about $12 billion over the years, disperses the governments 15 percent of public televisions budget and 10percent of public radios. Originally, public television increased many viewers choices by 33 percent from three (CBS, NBC, ABC) to four.

Twenty-five years ago, Sen. Al Gore, defending another appropriation increase for the CPB, asked what he considered a dispositive question: How many senators here have children who have watched Sesame Street and Mister Rogers Neighborhood? ... This is one thing that works in this country. So, senators, mostly affluent, should compel taxpayers, mostly much less affluent, to subsidize the senators childrens viewing because it works, as measured by means that Gore neglected to reveal.

Eighteen years ago, some public broadcasting officials, who understood the importance of being earnest and imaginative testified to Congress that public televisions educational effects on the workforce give the economy a $12 billion boost. Fifteen years ago, however, the then-president of public television said, We are dangerously close in our overall prime-time numbers to falling below the relevance quotient. Relevance? To what?

Today, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, thinks we can risk terminating the CPB. This would reduce viewers approximately 500choices to approximately 499. Listeners to public radio might have to make do with Americas 4,666 AM and 6,754 FM commercial stations, 437 satellite radio channels, perhaps 70,000 podcasts, and other Internet and streaming services.

America, which is entertaining itself to inanition, has never experienced a scarcity of entertainment. Or a need for government-subsidized journalism that reports on the government. Before newspaper editorial writers inveigh against Mulvaney and in support of government subsidies for television and radio, they should answer this question: Should there be a CPN a Corporation for Public Newspapers?

The CPB was created to encourage public telecommunications services which will be responsive to the interests of people. Of course: peoples interests, not peoples desires. The market efficiently responds to the latter. Public broadcasting began as a response to what progressives nowadays call market failure. This usually means the markets failure to supply what the public has not demanded but surely would demand if it understood its real interest.

One reason many Americans are becoming cord cutters, abandoning cable and satellite television, is that they want an a la carte world. One reason ESPN has lost 12 million subscribers in six years is that it is an expensive component of cable and satellite packages and many of those paying for the packages rarely watch ESPN.

Compelling taxpayers to finance government-subsidized broadcasting is discordant with todays a la carte impulse and raises a point: If it has a loyal constituency, those viewers and listeners, who are disproportionately financially upscale, can afford voluntary contributions to replace the government money. And advertisers would pay handsomely to address this constituency.

Often the last, and sometimes the first, recourse of constituencies whose subsidies are in jeopardy is: Its for the children. Big Bird, however, is more a corporate conglomerate than an endangered species. If Sesame Street programming were put up for auction, the danger would be of getting trampled by the stampede of potential bidders.

The argument for government-subsidized broadcasting is perversely circular: If the public were enlightened, there would be no need for government subsidies. But, by definition, an enlightened public would understand the inherent merits of subsidies by which the government picks more deserving winners than the market does.

However, because government-subsidized broadcasting exists, any argument for it would be superfluous, given what governmental inertia usually accomplishes for government enterprises. Long ago in January there was bold Republican talk about Congress restoring regular order: There would be 12 appropriations bills, and they would be enacted before the 2018 fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Instead, there probably will be another swallow this or shutter the government omnibus bill in which almost everything survives by sparing almost everyone the torture of choices. This is, of course, a choice.

Read more from George F. Wills archive or follow him on Facebook.

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Public broadcasting's immortality defies reason - The Washington Post - Washington Post

David Urban knew the answer to the question almost before the question was even asked.

Renascent.

I can definitely spell that now, Urban said. I spelled it without the s. I possibly could have come across the word before, but I dont ever remember having seen it.

It was 1993, nearly a quarter century ago, and Urban was 13 and just finished seventh grade at Crockett Middle School. It was his second of what would be three trips to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

It was a more innocent time, unlike this weeks whiz kids at the spelling bee with professional tutors, year-round study and a $40,000 cash, among several awards, to the winner.

But 24 years ago, through 15 rounds at the Capital Hilton, Urban, who was 66th the previous year, found himself with Geoff Hooper of Arlington, Tenn., as the only two contestants remaining out of 234 spellers. One would be crowned national champion.

A few rounds before, when only six spellers remained, the parents were invited to go on stage. Dr. Steve Urban, with his lucky dinosaur tie, and wife Joan were among a handful with a close-up view of their children.

It was an anxiety-provoking event, Dr. Urban said. But once he was in the top 10 or so, it was really a feeling of elation. I kind of had the anxiety leave me.

Urban, by the unluck of the draw, would finish as the national runner-up, the highest finish ever by an area speller. Before and after that year, two local spellers have finished eighth.

There was anxiousness and nervousness countered by boredom. Its a stark contrast of just sitting there for an hour and half, and then all of a sudden, youre at the microphone and its pretty intense, he said.

After 13 rounds, three were left Urban, Hooper and Yuni Kim, 12, then of Pottsville, Pa., who would inadvertently later play a major role in Urbans life. Kim stumbled on apotheosize. Urban breezed through connubial and Hooper nailed stupefacient.

Then there were two.

Words were a blind draw, but, man, did Hooper get a couple of late softballs thrown his way. While Urban scratched his head on renascent, Hooper got enchilada. Yes, enchilada, a word Texans can spell by second grade.

Competition rules required Hooper to spell one more word to be champion, which he did. His word? Kamikaze.

I remember getting a little bit perturbed that the guy who won got substantially easier words than the ones I got, Urban said. If anything, maybe a little bit amused and annoyed.

There was a special room, Urban said, where contestants could privately cry, and with a punching bag in it, even vent. For Urban, he was thrilled to be second.

He was interviewed by a couple of TV stations in Washington, and was the banner headline on the June 4, 1993, Amarillo Daily News: Urban Blows It no, wait, Amarilloan finishes 2nd in spelling bee. The next week, they had a brief ceremony at City Hall to declare the day David Urban Day.

It was not a holiday anyone remembered, but it was kind of fun to have a ceremony, he said. Being a champion speller is not going to impress a lot of 12- and 13-year-olds.

Later that year, I got a letter from a lady in Minnesota who had seen me on TV and said I looked exactly like her grandson, and she included a picture of her grandson. I didnt see the resemblance, but Ill have to take her word for it.

Its ironic now, but in a time when spelling has decreased emphasis in school curriculum, the stakes and emphasis for the national championship have never been higher. Like age-group volleyball and basketball players, its essentially year-round.

A word like renascent would be a second- or third-round word now, Urban said.

Urban would start practicing just after the holidays. He would work for about 30 minutes a night, increase that to an hour or so in the spring, and increase that to maybe a couple of hours as the bee drew near. His dad was his coach. That would be positively quaint by todays standards.

To show how long ago that was, Urban got $4,000 and a set of Encyclopedia Britannicas. His parents have all the old encyclopedias they want. Daughter Elizabeth, now a professor of history at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, twice went to the national bee as well.

Urban, 37, graduated from Amarillo High in 1998 and got an English degree from Rice University in 2002. He went to graduate school to study English Literature at Princeton University. He then did an about-face, and for the last four years has been a computer programmer in New York City for a start-up company, Medstro, a social network for physicians.

But the National Spelling Bee runner-up did have one major perk. While at freshman orientation at Rice, he was approached by a freshman girl from New Jersey named Celina Fang. She asked if he was David Urban, a one-time spelling bee finalist?

I thought my fame had preceded me, he said.

Rather surprised, he said indeed he was. As it turned out, Celina Fang was a high school friend of Yuni Kim, who finished third in 1993 when Urban was runner-up. Who knew?

Celina Fang, a former reporter for the New York Times and ABC News, would eventually become Urbans wife. Theyve been together now for 16 years. Rather s-e-r-e-n-d-i-p-i-t-o-u-s for both.

Jon Mark Beilue is an AGN Media columnist. He can be reached at jon.beilue@amarillo.com or 806-345-3318. Twitter: @jonmarkbeilue.

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Beilue: In '93, Amarillo's Urban was one word from spelling immortality - Amarillo.com

The Memorial Day forecast is looking good, so enjoy the holiday and pause to think about why you dont have to go to work on Monday. I also suggest a trip to the meat counter at Dots Market. That is the recipe to a great cookout.

Im already sick of the LeBron vs. MJ debate. The NBA Finals havent even tipped off and thats all we hear. Who is better, James or Jordan? Thats subjective, so lets play basketball. LeBron is making his seventh straight trip to the Finals, a jaw-dropping statistic. Can he will the Cavaliers past the latest super team to dominate the league?

The Warriors are off-the-charts talented, but the Cavaliers are battle tested. I think it comes down to the style of play. If its a jailbreak, up and down the court, its Golden State. If the refs are allowing some extra effort on boxouts, then Cleveland has the edge. Ill say Warriors in six which should quiet the LeBron vs. MJ debate.

The Indianapolis 500 will be held today, weather permitting. I watched some of the Carb Day practice Friday. Not very exciting. I did learn that Honda motors have been problematic, so I guess its safe to pick a Chevy-powered car.

There are 18 Honda engines in the field of 33 cars. There are 15 Chevrolet engines. There are no engines powered by squirrels and none of them have carburetors. My oldest daughter is going to the race (these things happen when you send your kid to Purdue) and I shared that bit of trivia with her so she can impress her friends.

The betting lines for Week 1 of the college football season are out. Ohio State is a 21-point favorite on the road against Indiana in its Aug. 31 opener. That is a Thursday night game, so plan accordingly. I think that line will balloon, so it might be time to break the piggy bank and place a wager on Urban and the boys. With Kevin Wilson calling the offensive plays against his old team, this one could get ugly.

I checked on the Maryland-Purdue Big Ten baseball tournament game Thursday night just in time to see Maryland coach John Szefc make a fool of himself in the eighth inning. The game was tied when a Maryland player was beaned. The home plate umpire said he didnt attempt to get out of the way (he did). Szefc charged from the dugout and unloaded a barrage of F-bombs and BS this and BS that. The Big Ten Network picked it up, loud and clear. Hopefully the children were in bed.

Trending up: NFL hot dogs, Tim Adleman, Jose Berrios. The NFL is relaxing its rules on touchdown celebrations, which should lead to assorted injuries as players gyrate their way to the training room. Im not much on TD merriment; I prefer the Barry Sanders reaction to reaching the end zone. But if I had to bring back just one touchdown dance, Id go with Billy White Shoes Johnson.

Trending down: Justin Gilbert, Andrew McCutchen, Nationals bullpen. Gilbert, one of the Browns many draft-day mistakes in recent years, has been suspended for four games by the NFL for violating the leagues substance-abuse policy. Whether any team signs the wayward free agent so he can serve his time is questionable. Cleveland took the cornerback with the No. 8 pick in 2014, then grabbed Johnny Manziel at No. 22. Ouch.

KNUCKLEHEAD OF THE WEEK

There are a lot of football players named Michael Bennett, including one from Centerville. This weeks knucklehead is not our Michael Bennett. The Michael Bennett who used to be a star running back at Wisconsin and played 10 years in the NFL is staring at a five-year prison term after pleading guilty to felony charges in California. He was busted in 2015 after stealing the identity of his girlfriends parents and taking out $225,000 in loans. He reportedly broke into their house to steal papers that helped him fake his identity. Bennett was drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in 2001 so this is a guy who made some good money. And then fumbled it away.

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Second Thoughts: LeBron needs to get physical in quest for immortality - MyDaytonDailyNews

Diane Paulus was thinking about mounting a production of Peter Pan.

Then, a viewing of Finding Neverland, the movie explaining Peters creation, sent her in a new direction. The Tony-winning director was captivated by the 2004 film starring Johnny Depp as Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie.

Its about the power of imagination, she says. Its about J.M Barrie as a writer breaking rules which I love in the theater.

Plus, she was inspired by a couple of other fans.

I watched it with my two girls, Paulus recalls. I saw their faces light up.

The rest, as they say, is history. The touring production of Broadway musical Finding Neverland, directed by Paulus, opens Tuesday, June 6, at Orlandos Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

The musical explains how playwright Barrie came to create Peter Pan through his involvement with an unusual family.

Her daughters, Paulus says, would dance to the shows pop-flavored music while it was in development. It opened in 2014 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass., where Paulus is artistic director.

Now 10 and 12, her girls have grown up with the show, Paulus says. Finding Neverland debuted on Broadway in March 2015, with Matthew Morrison (Glee) and Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) in leading roles. It ran for more than a year.

I just always felt it was a show that could be shared across generations, says Paulus, who is based on New York. I saw the potential of kids coming to Finding Neverland and seeing the puzzle of how Captain Hook came to be, how did Tinker Bell happen?

Paulus, whose Tony came for the 2013 revival of Pippin, knows all-ages entertainment. She created Amaluna, a touring Cirque du Soleil show, and in 2003 directed The Golden Mickeys show for Disney Cruise Line. It would later also play at Hong Kong Disneyland, where it ran for more than a decade.

More people have seen The Golden Mickeys than any other show Ive created, she acknowledges with a chuckle.

Peter Pan wasnt part of that show He hadnt entered my life yet but Paulus has a theory on his storys enduring appeal.

Its about immortality, an immortality connected to the idea of a child, she says. A child inside us, the child we once were that maybe weve lost and that maybe we want to capture again.

mpalm@orlandosentinel.com

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Diane Paulus sees immortality in 'Finding Neverland' - Orlando Sentinel

The 2006 FIFA World Cup final between Italy and France in Berlin was delicately poised at 1-1 with 10 minutes to go in extra time when Zidane, after taking exception to remarks made by his opponent Marco Materazzi, sensationally head butted the defender and was sent off.

As France captain Zidane walked off the fieId, his glorious international career came to a stunning end.

Many fans around the world sympathised with the Frenchman who was clearly baited but the reality is that most of them will probably overlook his sublime contribution to the world game and will always remember him for his brain explosion in Berlin.

In much the same way as the little Argentine Diego Maradona will never be better known for his extraordinary exploits at the highest level than for his 'Hand of God' goal against England in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Zidane's bewitching dribbling that got him out of impossible situations, his jaw-dropping free kicks that defied gravity, his two headers that gave France the 1998 World Cup and his special volley that helped Madrid win the 2002 Champions League will be overshadowed by the 'Materazzi moment'.

It's ridiculous, unfortunate, unfair and cruel but that's the way it is: we do live in an unappreciative and unforgiving world, after all.

Zidane has an opportunity to reach the peak of the coaching ranks by leading Madrid to their 12th European title when they face Juventus of Italy in Cardiff on Sunday (AEST).

This clash, involving two of his former clubs, gives him a chance to become one of only four people to win the competition as a player and a coach for a second time. The others are Miguel Munoz (1960, 1966), Pep Guardiola (2009, 2011) and Carlo Ancelotti (2003, 2007, 2014).

Victory over the 'Old Lady' would also make him the first coach since AC Milan's Arrigo Sacchi in 1990 to win the Champions League two years in a row and of course make Madrid the first team to retain the title since the 'Rossoneri' 27 years ago.

Zidane took over the Madrid job midway through last season and in the space of a few months moulded a team of high-profile stars into an unbeatable unit that went on to win the UCL.

This season they beat old rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to the Spanish championship and are one match away from a notable double.

It is not unusual but certainly very hard to play entertaining winning football but Madrid under 44-year-old Zizou have managed to do this with deadly effect.

Zidane, arguably France's greatest ever footballer, will no doubt become the country's finest player and manager if he pulls off the Cardiff coup.

"You were the best player in the world and now you are simply the best coach in the world," Madrid president Florentino Perez said of his talisman during celebrations marking the club's latest championship win, their 33rd.

Even allowing for Perez's unbridled enthusiasm, few would argue with his statement.

"Every piece of advice he gives you is like gold dust and it helps you improve on the pitch," said Madrid's playmaker Luka Modric of Zidane.

Okay, some cynics would say 'give Zidane the Malaga job and we'll see how good he is'.

But the same could be said of high-profile managers Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, who do not exactly work with battling teams, do they?

And besides, football is littered with stories of top coaches failing miserably with star-studded teams at national and club level.

The final showdown at the Millennium Stadium will provide us with a storybook ending.

A Madrid win would confirm Zidane as a master manager and place him up there with the best of his contemporaries and consolidate Madrid's status as the world's greatest club in history.

Victory for Juve would seal the club's rise to the top from the ashes of Serie B and crown the amazing career of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who continues to defy the critics at the age of 39.

No one would begrudge 'Gigi' a title that has eluded him for many years and one he so richly deserves.

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Zidane on the cusp of coaching immortality | : The World Game - SBS - The World Game (blog)

Grey Advertising Agency just celebrated its 100th year anniversary. To put that in context, Mad Men looks like a young un. To kickstart the next 100, the company asked every employee to have an EEG scan of their brains while wearing a 3D-printed bio-sensing, brainwave-monitoring headset. The scans were done while the employee was solving a work problem. A series of art works called Brain Portraits were created from the colorful scans, a reminder of a companys greatest asset the diversity of its employees and the different skills they bring to problem solving. A forward-thinking notion coming from a company that named itself after the grey walls (and suits) in their office.

To amplify the theme of diversity, Grey invited a series of thought leaders, all exploring the boundaries of creativity to address their employees. I was invited to sit in and listen to a Q&A with Martine Rothblatt. Rothblatt is the extreme embodiment of creativity, diversity and a borderless future.

Born Martin Rothblatt, Martine underwent gender reassignment surgery in the 90s to become Martine. Today, she is the CEO of United Therapeutics and the highest paid woman CEO in the US. Rothblatt created the company to help find a cure for her daughters health problem, pulmonary hypertension. In the process of finding a cure she managed to get a helicopter pilots license and learn a lot about using pig organs for transplants, because it had to be done. Before United Therapeutics, Rothblatt worked on two other pioneering companies, Sirius XM and GeoStar, both based on heavy-duty satellite expertise.

But its Rothblatts almost religious belief in immortality that gave the audience the most to chew on. For Rothblatt, its an ongoing story of the difference between borders and boundaries. Claiming that we are acculturated to going with the flow, Rothblatt believes that life imposes borders and we can push them. Boundaries, she says, like the end of the universe are a bit more finite.

Death is optional, she says. In a world obsessed with borders she postulates that when we begin to question borders as finite that innovation happens.

Rothblatt pushes the borders of what it means to be human and conscious. Consciousness, she argues, is a just a border, not a boundary.

Her proof point is an ongoing experiment with porting consciousness into inanimate objects. BINA48 is its embodiment. BINA is an anthropomorphic replica of Martines spouse, whose name, not coincidently, is Bina. (Since Bina was 48 years old when the project began, the robotic head designed by Hanson Robotics is named BINA48.) The disembodied head has thirty motors beneath BINAs lifelike face that let her run through the gamut of human emotions as she holds a conversation with you. Hundreds of hours of interviews with the real Bina have allowed BINA48 to capture her essence. Rothblatt believes that its through creations like BINA we can all achieve some degree of immortality. Transcendence, she says, is breaking the border between life and death. The boundary becomes a border or, as Rothblatt likes to say, prodigy integrates pedigree as we begin to upload consciousness into cyber-consciousness.

Hanson Robotics

In the near future, we will be able to visit with the consciousness of loved ones whove left their bodily form. And, on a less sci-fi note, there may be a payoff for companies to set a little time aside to think more colorfully.

Robin Raskin is founder of Living in Digital Times (LIDT), a team of technophiles who bring together top experts and the latest innovations that intersect lifestyle and technology. LIDT produces conferences and expos at CES and throughout the year focusing on how technology enhances every aspect of our lives through the eyes of todays digital consumer.

Start your workday the right way with the news that matters most.

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Pondering Creativity, Immortality and Borders with a 100 Year Old Ad Agency - HuffPost